Distant Sons: A Novel

The paths of two young men collide and spark unexpected violence in a Wisconsin town where three boys went missing in the 1970s in this "intricate, haunting novel" (Michael Koryta, author of An Honest Man). What if? What if Sean Courtlands old Chevy truck had broken down somewhere else? What if hed never met Denise Givens, a waitress at a local tavern, and gotten into a bar fight defending her honor? Or offered a ride to Dan Young, another young man like Sean, burdened by secrets and just drifting through the small Wisconsin town? Instead, Sean enlists Dans help with a construction job in the basement of a localthe elderly, reclusive Marion Devereauxand gradually the two men come to realize that theyve washed up in a place haunted by the disappearance of three young boys decades earlier. As Sean and Dans friendship deepens, and as Sean gets closer to Denise and her father, they come to the attention of a savvy local detective, Corrine Viegas, who has her own reasons for digging into Dans pastand for being unable to resist the pull of the towns unsolved mystery. And with each chance connection, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence and the revelation of long-buried truths. Gripping and immersive, this crime novel by bestselling author Tim Johnston becomes so much more: a book about friendship and love and good hard workand a masterful read about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences both devastating and beautiful.